CHALLENGE TOUR REPORT, SCORES

Lloyd Saltman takes 43 for inward half in eight-over 80

Whatever went wrong for ace amateur Lloyd Saltman when he turned professional is showing absolutely no signs of getting better. In fact, on the evidence of his round of eight-over-par 80 in the Challenge Tour's Telenet Trophy at Rinken Golf Club, Anvers in Belgium today, the Lothians man is getting farther and farther away from the brilliant player he was before he decided to play for pay - and there hasn't been much of that.
Saltman is lying joint last in a field of more than 150. Over a shortish par-72 course, only 6,622yd long, Lloyd went off the rails on the inward half. After nine holes, with a birdie at the sixth and bogeys at the short third and fourth, he was not in bad shape for the inward half.
But he had a double bogey 6 at the 10th and a double bogey 5 at the short 11th, followed by a bogey 5 at the 12th - five shots shed to par over three holes. A birdie, only his second of the round, at the 13th, failed to stop the "bleeding."
Saltman bogeyed the long 14th, the 15th and the 17th for a six-over-par 43 for the inward half.
England's Lee Slattery got his ball round in eight-under-par 64 - 16 shots better than Saltman who was twice as good a player as Slattery when they were amateurs.
Jamie McLeary is lying joint 31st after a 71 while Jack Doherty and George Murray are sharing 94th place on 73.
LEADERBOARD
Par 72
64 Lee Slattery (England).
65 Pierre-Alexis Rolland (Belgium) (amateur).
66 Pierre Relecom (Belgium), Magnus Carlsson (Sweden), Matt Haines (England).
67 Ben Evans (England), Steen Ottesen (Denmark), Charles-Edouard Russo (France), Alessandro Tadini (Italy), Edouard Dubois (France).
68 Guy Woodman (England), Damien Perrier (France), Victor Riu (Italy), Nicolas Meitinger (Germany), Francois Calmels (France), Joel Sjoholm (Sweden), Dominique Nouilhac (France).
Selected scores:
69 Daniel Denison (England), Stuart Davis (England0, Benn Barham (England), Oliver Whiteley (England), Kyron Sullivan (Wales), Ben Mason (England).
70 David Griffiths (England), Ally Mellor (England), Sam Walker (England), Andrew Johnston (England), Tom Whitehouse (England), Luke Goddard (England), Jamie McLeary (Scotland) (jt 31st).
73 Jack Doherty (Scotland), George Murray (Scotland) (jt 94th).
80 Lloyd Saltman (Scotland) (jt 152nd).